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The Four Corners
There comes a point where all the good intentions and study in the galaxy doesn’t help you keep things straight. Whilst the Sith Empire may seem straightforward, with fairly simplistic military tactics, and a standard approach to obstacles – to simply push through them – the Sith themselves are cunning, manipulative and layer plans within plans within schemes within intrigues. They are adept at plotting and backstabbing and it can be hard to keep a clear view of the whole scheme; let alone the players in it! The Four Corners in particular are masters of these particular arts. As such, to give our Jedi Knights their best chance in countering them, and our Padawans and Initiates the best chance to understand the scope of the dangers they will one day face, I’ve put together everything we know to date about the Four Corners, trying to summarise the many reports from our previous investigations. This summary has taken many hours of referencing and cross-referencing data streams in the archives, SIS and Jedi reports, and a number of other - sometimes less legitimate - sources. It is the sum total of our knowledge to date, but that does not mean it is entirely accurate. I'll continue to update as more information becomes available... Description The Four Corners - known more formally as The Four Corners of the House of Sorrows - is a semi-independent group of Sith Lords, working towards a common and as of yet unknown goal. Formed during the Great Galactic War, the group was initially formed with five key Sith within the power structure. The group was led by Darth Slaeya, as if at the top of a pyramid, with the four corners formed of Lord Vorso, Lord Veretik, Lord Kagin and Lord Karru. Each Sith retained their own power structures, but it was expected that they use those in support of the others in the group when needed, and were also available to help towards fulfilling their final ambition. Darth Slaeya kept order between the other four members by ensuring one could not move against another in the power structure without suffering severe consequences. In this way, she was able to keep the Sith focused, despite their individual ambitions. When Darth Slaeya died, the Four Corners disbanded, each of its remaining members engaging in their own actions for a time with no shared vision or purpose. As the Cold War following the Treaty of Coruscant intensified, Vorso, Veretik and Kagin eventually found their individual schemes interconnecting. They brought in another - Lord Athentia - to reform the Four Corners once more. Since then, the Four Corners have made several attempts at reigniting the Great Galactic War. Although initially their actions were condemned by the Dark Council on Dromund Kaas, they have since been accepted and granted their own individual titles of Darth - the highest rank the Dark Council will bestow, short of elevation to the Council itself. The group has had some internal political issues; including a lack of a true leader since the death of Darth Slaeya. This has led to some in-fighting, which has greatly diluted their effectiveness against the Republic and the Jedi Order - the Gadani Enclave in particular has been responsible for several critical setbacks to their plans. In more recent times however, the reformed Four Corners - now 'led' by Lord Karru in an almost figurehead role - are now actively attempting to pursue their original goal, as well as pursuing personal agendas, even against each other. Organisation ]]Thus far, we know very little about how or why the Four Corners initially came together, except that it appears to have been towards the middle or end of the Great Galactic War. For whatever reason, four minor Sith Lords came to work together under the guidance of a fifth – the four subordinates – or ‘Corners’ appeared to combat external threats, whilst the fifth gave the whole group focus and clarity of vision – preventing them from turning on each other as Sith are known to do. It is not clear if the Four Corners were sanctioned by the Dark Council of the time, but it appears they were at the very least tolerated. At the time of their formation, the Four Corners was comprised of five members as mentioned. The lines of allegiance throughout the group were clearly intermingled, with the individual known as Darth Slaeya as a lynchpin. Darth Slaeya herself was responsible for the formation of the group, although how she managed to bring four disparate Sith Lords together and bind them to this cooperative grouping remains a mystery. In recent times, the role of Darth Slaeya as the lynchpin, or Archeon, of the group has been bestowed upon Lord Karru; although his junior rank in Sith hierarchy suggests he serves more as a figurehead than a true leader. Key Members Leadership * Darth Slaeya * Darth Athentia * Darth Kagin * Darth Veretik * Darth Vorso * Lord Karru Key Supporters * Lord Fractus * Lord Auraculus * Lord Kleist * Yorek * Agent Crawforde * Major Sirok * Vasda Talyc Other Persons of Note * Lord Skelis * Ol'lessi'ar * Jataria Kraath Chronology of Key Events 0 ATC - 8 ATC: Fracturing The activities of the Four Corners during the war are not entirely clear – the Republic's SIS were tracking thousands of Sith Lords, each initially more important to the overall war effort than five individual Sith with no clear, connected goals. What we do know is that at some point after the death of Darth Slaeya, the group fell to infighting and fractured. We speculate this might have been because of the strength of each Corner's power bases opposing the other for control. For reasons we have yet to determine, Lord Kagin was granted the title of Darth, and he begin his own plots in secret. Lord Vorso disappeared from the galactic stage almost completely as far as our analysis can determine, in fact we have reports he was murdered by his son – Fractus. Lord Veretik also withdrew during this time, apparently amassing or otherwise nurturing his cult of followers, as best we can tell. Lord Karru began to speak against the Empire's decision to halt the war. Slowly and surely, over the course of many years, he amassed a considerable force of followers - many of them Sith Lords - all of whom formed the basis of a cult; one with which he would threaten the peace, and the Jedi Order. 9 ATC - 10 ATC: Reformation The Mass Shadow Incident Lord Karru appears to have been one of the main instigators of this plot, although cultists working beneath him would form the majority of the forces our enclave would face as it unfolded. Lord Karru and his associates (including a fallen Jedi) spent a considerable amount of time after the Treaty of Coruscant was signed tracking down and acquiring the technical specifications and components of a former Republic superweapon known as a Mass Shadow Generator. This device was used only twice - once over three hundred years ago at the end of the Mandalorian War, and again a few years afterwards at the end of the Jedi Civil War – both times on the planet of Malachor V. Neither event was sanctioned by the Jedi Council, or the Republic leadership. The device draws upon the natural mass shadows of a planetary body – specifically it was designed to take advantage of the unique gravitational fields present at Malachor V – and then used them to somehow annihilate virtually everything on the planet’s surface. It was theorised that the device could be adapted to work against any planetary body, but the designs of the device were seized and thought destroyed by the Jedi Council established following the Jedi Civil War, so this hypothesis was never tested. Through unknown means, Lord Karru came into possession of these plans, and began to put together his own duplicate of the device – this one to be calibrated specifically for the planet of Tython. Once the cult’s plans were uncovered, it became a race against time to try and locate and obtain the various rare components needed to craft the weapon, a race the Gadani enclave (despite our best efforts) did not win. The device was completed and secreted aboard a shuttle on the Tython Orbital station, his fallen Jedi associate allowing them to bypass all our security procedures. By the will of the Force however, and through the actions of the Everias Tellanis in particular, this weapon was deactivated mere moments from detonation and both Lord Karru and his fallen Jedi associate were apprehended. The parts of the device were destroyed without study, and the technical blueprints were also erased. No copies or information on the calculations leading to the devices construction or operation were spared. Lord Karru, and all members of the cult were branded as traitors to the Sith Empire by the Dark Council – an act we believe was designed to distance themselves from the multiple breaches of the Treaty of Coruscant the cult undertook. Rise and fall of the Dreamer Lord Karru remained in Republic custody and was kept strictly secure (perhaps even unlawfully so). Whilst we can never know for certain exactly how events unfurled within the Empire, it appears Lord Veretik made some effort to take control of Karru's cult in his absence, revealing himself for the first time since the end of the war. Whatever plans Lord Veretik may have had were ultimately thwarted by Darth Kagin’s unexpected return, and Veretik was ultimately branded a traitor to the Empire for attempting to take his place as the head of the cult which had breached the Treaty. Unable to return to Imperial space, it appears he grudgingly become Kagin’s newest apprentice as a new scheme to destroy the Jedi Order and reignite the war was put into motion. Without the security of being able to hide within the Empire though, the cult ultimately went to ground in a number of secure safe houses throughout the galaxy. Utilising information provided by Lord Karru during interrogation, Jedi and SIS teams were sent to multiple locations on Alderaan, Taris, Tatooine and Hoth; each of the safehouses discovered was ultimately seized and any cultists present defeated. Despite this, the cult always seemed to be one step ahead of the strike teams. Ultimately the Gadani enclave were able to locate Darth Kagin and Lord Veretik on the planet of Quesh, as they finally made clear their plans to detonate a dangerous toxin weapon within an Imperial base, implicating the Republic for the act. This plan was foiled and Darth Kagin was defeated, but the person under the mask was ultimately revealed to be a Jedi named Gilvoth – thought lost during a mission to Corulag years before. Before he died, Gilvoth gave us our first glimpse into Kagin’s past; one of an ancient Sith being that had survived past a natural lifespan by tethering his essence to a powerful dark side artefact. A Jedi team sent to Corulag some years earlier to retrieve this device were ultimately pulled under Kagin’s sway, allowing him to take complete control of each of them as an extension of his own will. Ultimately - and after many trials - the Gadani enclave Jedi managed to destroy Kagin’s artefacts and free his hosts from their purgatory. With each victory Kagin’s final plans were made clearer, until a major confrontation at his last stronghold on the planet Belsavis occurred. It was there Kagin revealed his primary host, the Jedi Master of a long disbanded enclave - Voryn Sharmat. Following the inevitable confrontation, the Jedi strike team thought both Kagin and master Sharmat to be destroyed - his body thrown into a lava flow rather than submit to confinement. We mourned the loss of master Sharmat with his former Padawan on Tython, and set our sights on finding Lord Veretik - believed to be leading the few surviving members of the cult - before he could cause further tragedy. Tattered Reputations Following the apparent death of Darth Kagin, Lord Veretik took the time to cement his position as overall leader of the remnants of the cult which our enclave was investigating. In addition, he claimed public responsibility for personally slaying Darth Kagin – a fact the Dark Council appeared unwilling to publicly dispute. Although the Dark Council continued to officially denounce his actions, they were willing to turn a blind eye to the actions of his cult so long as they did not enter Imperial space. The fragile peace between Empire and Republic continued to crack. Bizarrely, it was from within the Empire that strongest opposition to Veretik’s cult seemed to be growing. Assets within Imperial Intelligence, directed unknown to us by a Lord Skelis, revealed to us many of the ‘rogue’ Sith’s plans before they could be carried out. They acknowledged this assistance was self-serving, and that the Empire was not prepared to face a second war at the time, but also pointed out that stopping Veretik could save untold numbers of Republic lives. The Gadani enclave made every attempt to undermine the actions of the cult based on this information. However, due to a lack of true evidence – and some occasionally questionable actions by its members – the Gadani enclave found itself under constant, harsh scrutiny and any favourable public opinion formed from our earlier achievements was quickly eroded. Despite this, the threat being posed by the cult was clear to the High Council and missions were sanctioned to continue investigating the cult and the activities of its leader; missions that led Jedi teams from Alderaan, to Hoth and even on a secret mission to the planet Voss. At each of these locations, a smaller piece of an overall puzzle was gained, until finally the cult’s plan was revealed. Using a strange and unique device – formed of ancient Sith, Rakatan, and Voss technologies – a group of cultists (led by one of Veretik's Lieutenants) were able to board and seize control of a Republic Battle-cruiser – the Endeavour. Their intention was to send the ship to the planet of Alderaan and reignite the war between the Empire and the Republic by having the Endeavour fire on an Imperial Diplomatic transport. The plan was foiled when the Endeavour was set on a return hyperspace course to the Republic fleet at Carrack Station by its command crew - shortly before they were sadly killed by the cultists. This simple action saved countless lives as it allowed a joint Republic special forces and Jedi strike team to board the ship and make their way to the bridge. Since the Republic had proof the ship had been captured by the cult, it could not be claimed it was under Republic control had it destroyed the Imperial transport. Outraged at this failure, Veretik’s Lieutenant redirected the ship to the planet Tython, intending to crash it into the Jedi temple. This plan too, was foiled, and with the Lieutenant's death, the Endeavour instead settled into a stable orbit of the planet. Given the Sith device could not be removed from the ship, and fearful its influence might somehow be extended to other vessels in the fleet, the Republic Navy formally gifted the vessel to the Gadani enclave. This ship, now renamed as the Harmony remains in orbit of Tython and study of the inert Sith device continues. 10 ATC – 11 ATC: The Alderaanian Protocol the Gadani enclaves reputation has been hurt and tattered by the events to root out and destroy the cult; which we saw as being the greatest threat to the fragile peace between the Republic and the Sith Empire. A little goodwill was cultivated however in stopping Veretik’s cults’ most recent scheme to reignite the war between the Empire and Republic. The fires of war however were already being fanned by others within the Empire - Darth Angral in particular seemed intent on antagonising Jedi and Republic assets - and even within the Republic, as separatists on Ord Mantell continue a Rebellion with the aim of having the planet forcibly seceded from the Republic. Yet in these dark times, there was still hope for a better future. Darth Fractus, an emissary from the Empire, contacted the Republic to propose a truce - more than this though, he wished for a literal alliance between the factions to help prevent the spread of Veretik's cult and influence. Backed by the Dark Council, Fractus arranged to have representatives from the Empire meet with members of the Gadani enclave on Alderaan. There, an accord was agreed - an amendment to the Treaty of Coruscant known as the Alderaanian Protocol. The Protocol allowed Imperial and Republic assets free movement within the territory of the other so long as it was on legitimate grounds in defeating the cult; that intelligence on the cult, its members and plans were shared; and that any property or prisoners seized during joint operations were returned to their original owners. These terms were seen later as favouring the Empire more than the Republic - a clear error on the part of the negotiators - but were still considered as binding. The Protocol was signed. With both of the major intelligence agencies engaged in uncovering the actions and members of the cult, missions to root out their support structures were quickly and efficiently put into place. Supply depots, prisoners, weapons, ships and other materials were all taken - mostly by the Empire - and the alliance appeared to be operating as well as could be expected, even uncovering corruption within the Senate itself! What slowly became clear however, was that the cult had more support and resources than had previously been identified. Groups of soldiers under a disbanded Imperial regiment known colloquially as the Hornvipers were engaged in several operations for the cult, and despite taking several prisoners the mass of their forces always seemed a step ahead of us. Slowly but surely, tensions rose in the background between the two factions; tensions which began to bleed into the operations being undertaken by the Joint Task Force. Interrogations were stalled as participants could not agree on methods, unacceptable rates of attrition were caused by poor decisions, and even the Hutts - previously a staunch neutral party - began to become involved. Through it all though, Darth Fractus acted with goodwill and made attempts to smooth relations - even at the cost of his own reputation within the Empire. It was around this time as well that first references to "The Four Corners" began to appear - investigation of which led us to discover vague details of the group and the membership of Lord Karru. As part of his interrogations some months prior, Karru was moved from abusive Republic custody, into seclusion on Krev Coeur - fourth planet of the Tython system. A meeting with Karru was arranged, in which much of what we know about the group was revealed. Regrettably, however, the reach of the cult far exceeded our estimates and one of the guards attacked Karru with some manner of poisoned dart. Although he survived the attack, he was badly weakened, only managing to direct us to an exiled Sith - Stilgar, residing on Tatooine - who might know more current information on the Four Corners. Tensions continued to rise as missions to Tatooine, and later Nar Shaddaa tested the patience of the Jedi and Imperials present, until finally - following a particularly disastrous mission - we were informed the Empire was nullifying the Alderaanian Protocol. 11 ATC: The Grand Deception Revealed With support from the Republic at an all-time low, the number of allies elsewhere growing thin, and a formal investigation being undertaken by the Jedi High Council; the Gadani enclave was facing pressure to disband and become amalgamated into the Order. The Gadani Council however refused to submit to such a fate, knowing the dangers the cult, and the mysterious Four Corners, represented. Data recovered from one of Veretik's last lieutenants was decoded and pieced together with knowledge obtained in prior missions. Darth Veretik had laid careful and intricate plans to disrupt a peace conference on Alderaan - his intent, to reignite a vicious civil war and once more tip the Republic and Empire towards armed conflict. Presenting this evidence to the High Council, they finally relented, granting approval to begin a mission to Alderaan - even more unexpectedly, the presence on Alderaan of Darth Fractus, who had chosen to continue fighting the cult with us. The many plots of the peace conference sabotage were quickly discovered and undone, leaving only one final action - a confrontation with Darth Veretik. The mastermind of the cult had been located at last, personally overseeing his latest attempt to ignite war. But we were all of us deceived. The alliance of Republic and Empire proved to be a ruse; the Empire's goal had never been to destroy the Four Corners, but instead to limit our impact on their plans and weaken the Republic; to gain access to Republic military and civilian operation centres, and to disgrace our enclave in particular. The Four Corners had gathered in secret to oppose the Gadani enclave members and - deep within the Alderaanian mountains - they revealed themselves to us at last. Darth Fractus shook hands with Darth Veretik, and everything we worked towards came undone. Veretik was joined by Darth Vorso, Darth Kagin and Darth Athentia, all of whom stood side-by-side, with the full backing of the Dark Council. These four proved too much for our team of Jedi Knights and Padawans to face, yet, the Four Corners allowed them to withdrawn relatively unharmed.